I pinch myself everyday (especially on days like this) that I make my living by walking the ever changing and beautiful New Forest. A trip to Burley today to recce a walk I will be advertising next month.
Getting away from the obvious tracks I walked along village lanes admiring the prestige properties and small holdings being showered in falling autumnal leaves like a glitter explosion as they gracefully float to the ground sparkling in the low golden sunlight. Ponies and cows wander the lanes and graze on the verges as I pass them on my way and piglets squealed and bundled in the distance while mum hoovered the acorns.
As I passed the church Jay's were cackling and squawking high in the canopy and then it all went quiet as a fox trotted through the woods. Out onto Mill Lawn the animals are all snoozing in the warm sun within their herds. The ponies have snazzy new tail trims, proof of the recent round-up it was even warm enough to see the tail end of a female adder disappearing under the gorse after, I would imagine having a warm up in the sun trapped heath. Heading onto Clayhill heath, I could hear the the deer rutting in the nearby woods and as I passed the tumili I wonder how much this landscape has changed over the thousands of years?
A steady walk back through the fungi-filled wood as if the trees are celebrating the end of a beautiful summer with their autumnal decorations and welcoming the time when the leaves fall, the sap draws back into the roots and they rest and reflect ready to return, raise, and re-energised in the spring. 🌳🍂🌞